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The pendulum of sentencing policy has swung back again in Wisconsin. 2011 Wisconsin Act 38, which became effective Aug. 3, signals a return to truth-in-sentencing by changing the state's criminal sentencing laws to eliminate or adjust many of the procedures that had allowed early release of certain inmates.

By making clear that objections to an attorney’s involvement in a case on conflict grounds can be raised by nonclient parties as well as by clients, a recent Wisconsin decision has increased the burden on lawyers to conduct thorough conflict-of-interest checks.

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Lawyers regularly receive email messages from prospective “clients” whose goal is to trick the lawyers into transmitting funds to the message senders. In this video, Madison attorney Thomas Watson notes business loans, commercial litigation, family law, and real estate appear to be the areas of law most commonly used by scammers. Watson urges, “Be wary of clients who make contact only by email, and be careful with your online banking system, particularly when it comes to your trust accounts.”